Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Patriotic/Unpatriotic Facts After teaching middle school Social Studies for many years, I decided to go back to school to get my graduate degree. In one of my classes, we studied James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me. I was so influenced by this book and the idea that we have been presenting students inaccurate information that I have been thoroughly researching the content I teach before presenting it to my students. Recently we have been studying international affairs of the US government. Some of the information I presented revealed actions the US government engaged in other countries that resulted in killings and disturbances. My students were interested in the materials and some of the issues we discussed in class made dinner-time discussions at home. One of the parents who is a retired army officer came to the school to talk to my principal. He told the principal that I was indoctrinating students. When my principal told me about this, I explained to her that all the information I presented was factual and that I researched the information from multiple resources. Her suggestion to me was that I should focus more on teaching patriotic materials. I am so frustrated that I do not have the support of my principal. Also, I disagree that what I teach is unpatriotic. I am simply trying to teach accurate information. If I continue doing what I do, I may lose my job. However, I do not want to give up teaching my students the truth. How should I go about this issue? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) If I were you, I would try to have a private meeting with the principal. I would explain to him that the content you were teaching is true. I would explain that it is not indoctrination but presenting historical facts to students. I would then make this proposal. I would tell the principal that I would show how countries make mistakes in the same sense anyone would make a mistake because no country is perfect. I would then allow students to collaborate and create their own responses on how the historical situation could have been better handled if they were in charge of the government. If the content was relevant to the standards, I would also point out that there is no way around teaching the content and therefore need to be objective as possible. I would then try to schedule an appointment with the parent who was offended. I would first explain that I can understand how someone from the military would be upset if lives were lost in a certain conflict. However, I would make the case that if I shield students from facts then we are being less patriotic because we will not appreciate American for what it truly is but instead the sugar coated image that makes teaching American history easy.